It’s summertime, so once again, here I am doing my thing with the men’s basketball version of the Starting Five. We’re doing features again, too, but as we’ve said no less than three dozen times, if you’re not a Patron, you’re not going to get to read them. Sign up for as little as $1 a month at patreon.com/horizoneroundtable.
If you don’t want to do that, and I can’t possibly understand why you wouldn’t want to pay a dollar to read some really good pieces, my Starting Five will be pretty much what you get. So here we go.
The CSU Majorette Kerfuffle
I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of the Vikingettes, a group of majorettes that had performed at basketball games, so I must apologize for that. However, at least two Cleveland State administrators, VP of Student Belonging and Success Tachelle Banks and Director Student Engagement Jarrett Pratt, had heard of them and apparently didn’t dig their style. So, according to a report in the Cauldron, the Vikingettes were forced to stop performing at games or risk losing their student organization status.
On the surface, the situation smacks of a First Amendment violation. Beyond that, it’s really dumb, especially when CSU Athletics seem to have no problem with the group performing at all.
Now while Dr. Banks and Mr. Pratt seem to think that not talking to the Cauldron is the end of the story, well, now that I know about it, I get to be a pain in their collective asses. Because I’m not dropping it. And who are you guys to dictate standards, especially given some of the questionable organizations that have come and gone in recent years? If Athletics is okay with this group, leave them alone!
And don’t get me started on how weird this looks that you made any effort against this group when there are clearly so many other issues that have touched your division in the last year.
Two side notes on this: First, someone better give the Cauldron the $100 I donated to them during Giving Day, or else I want it back. And second, to the “ew, them” person referenced in the Cauldron article, really? You should have been paying attention to the game, because Cleveland State won that one against Oakland. Stop being a terrible fan.
Anchors Aweigh!
It’s been a while since we’ve had a story about an incoming player with military service. But this one might top them all.
While Matt Crenshaw, who served in the Navy, technically doesn’t count for us, as he played for then-IUPUI in the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League), Oakland’s Isaiah Brock, who was an Army veteran, most certainly does.
Now there’s Ramel Bethea.
Green Bay’s latest commit spent his post-high school years working a 9-to-5 job before he joined the Navy. There, not only did Bethea serve as a machinist’s mate on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, but he also started playing basketball, something he didn’t do in high school.
It turned out, once he picked up the game, he was really good.
Within two years, not only had he grown to 6-9, he was part of the Navy team that finished second in the 2022 Armed Forces Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. He’d also be a part of an Armed Services team that toured Belgium before his enlistment was eventually up. He opted to become a civilian again and joined the MiraCosta College squad last season, where he scored 12.7 points and grabbed 9.7 boards per game.
Now, the Maryland native will be headed to Green Bay, where the Phoenix will welcome his size and experience.
Obviously, I don’t usually spend time on one recruit in the Starting Five, but as the brother of a Navy vet (who was also on an aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, during his service), I couldn’t resist.
Kendrick Perry: Champion and Foodie
Last year, I wrote a feature on former Youngstown State star Kendrick Perry’s journey playing overseas, which included his current stop playing for Unicaja in Malaga, Spain, as well as his aspirations to make it to the Olympics representing Montenegro, where he is a citizen.
His tenure with Unicaja has been a successful one, as his squad won its second BCL championship this year and have qualified for the upcoming Liga ACB playoffs once again. And he’s continued his ongoing Life Across the Water YouTube series, talking with players like himself who are on their own paths as overseas players.
Now, Perry, with his long-time collaborator Ruben Torres, are striking out in a new direction. In his latest venture, Certified Foodie, Perry is venturing out the various restaurants and other food establishments across Malaga to delve into the local cuisine. It serves as an excellent opportunity for him to show a different side of him. Plus, for would-be visitors of Malaga, there’s some thoughtful insight into some of the local spots to visit.
Part one of the exploration through Malaga’s food scene can be found on Perry’s YouTube channel or you can watch it below.
Help Wanted
The Horizon League doesn’t really need our help to signal-boost job openings. But in this case, I’m going to make an exception.
The conference is looking for a Messaging Fellow for next year. The position is sponsored by the McLendon Foundation, and the league had partnered with the organization, as Kobe Mosley, friend of the podcast, is currently serving in this role.
And in case you were wondering, yes, the foundation is named after former Cleveland State head coach and pioneer John McLendon. I’ve documented my own personal experience with him during my undergraduate studies, which you can read here.
So, of course, if there’s an opportunity to help his foundation, I’m definitely going to do it, especially since this is a collaboration with the Horizon League.
If you’re interested, you can apply here.
It’s not AI
Basketball is starting to wind down, both here and overseas, depending upon the league, and ex-Horizon League players such as Kendrick Perry are prepping for their respective post-season drives or making plans for next season.
That includes Jack Gohlke, who spent time in the G League, both with the Motor City Cruise and Wisconsin Herd, before heading to Mexico at the end of the season to join Angeles de la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City Angels) in the CIBACOPA. With four games left, the Angels sit in second place in the league standings, boosted by Gohlke’s contributions, which, as we know, primarily center around his three-point shooting.
And then over the weekend, Oakland head coach Greg Kampe posted something strange.
Yes, there is apparently footage that came out of Mexico of Gohlke…dunking? And Kampe was convinced that it was generated by AI. The clip appears to come from the May 17th contest between Angeles and Venados de Mazatlán, in which Angeles won convincingly, 128-108, fueled by Gohlke’s 21 points. 18 of those points, as expected, came from Gohlke going 6-for-10 coming off the bench. He went 7-for-11 in total that game.
And given that he did only hit threes in the previous contest against Venados, yes, it appears that this is the contest that Gohlke dunked and not, it isn’t AI. While we, as Horizon League fans, never saw him do that when he was with the Grizz, that’s clearly not to say that he wasn’t capable of it. The same thing was true of Loudon Love and three-pointers, which he apparently shoots and hits plenty during his stints in the G League, something that never happened when he was at Wright State.
Now, if footage starts appearing of Gohlke dunking from the three-point line, then you can start wondering if it’s AI-generated.
